Shakshuka with Swiss Chard

Photo from The Diabetes Cookbook
for Electric Pressure Cookers.
Used with permission.

I always celebrate a little when someone I know has published their first cookbook, and this time it's even a little more special since Shelby Kinnaird was one of the first bloggers I got friendly with when my blog was fairly new.

Her book is The Diabetes Cookbook for Electric Pressure Cookers, and I was tickled to get a review copy to peruse. And cook from.

Shelby is pretty good at coming up with creative recipes that don't stand up and shout "I'm good for you!" or that seem like they're some kind of special restrictive diet. You'll find plenty of fresh ingredients, and, as she mentioned to me, there's only one recipe with an artificial sweetener, but that can be subbed for regular sugar if you prefer.

As I browsed through the book, I decided I was hungry enough to want to make something right away, so I chose the Shakshuka with Swiss Chard. Unfortunately, I didn't have any Swiss chard or anything else that resembled it. But I decided to make it anyway, subbing other friendly vegetables for the chard.

I also cut back on the recipe since I was just cooking for me, and eggs aren't exactly stellar when reheated. And then I had to fiddle with the technique a bit, since it calls for setting a pressure cooker for 0 minutes, but mine won't go lower than on minute.

My version of the book's shakshuka. So yummy!

Still, I think it was a good example of what you'll find in the book.

The other recipe I considered making right away was a Mexican zucchini casserole, because I happened to have the right ingredients. There were plenty of other recipes that sounded good, but would have required shopping, and I was too hangry for that.

But still, I've got cauliflower on the shopping list to make the Parmesan Cauliflower Mash. That sounds like a perfect side dish, doesn't it?

The book has everything from breakfasts to side dishes to main dishes to desserts, so there's something for everyone.

Since I mangled the original recipe so much, I'm giving you the recipe as it appears in the book:

Shakshuka with Swiss Chard
Serves 4 (110 carbs per serving)
Recipe reprinted with permission from The Diabetes Cookbook for Electric Pressure Cookers by Shelby Kinnaird  and Simone Harounian

Need a great brunch option? Try shakshuka, a dish where eggs are cooked in a seasoned tomato sauce. This version leans towards the Mediterranean with flavors of basil, oregano, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and marjoram. Your EPC needs to be at low pressure for this recipe. The first time I made it, I use high pressure and my eggs ended up overcooked. Look for a pasta sauce that's low in sugar and sodium (or make your own).

4 ounces Swiss chard (about 4 large stems and leaves)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black peper
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/2 cups Marinara Sauce with Red Lentils (from the book) or tomato-based pasta sauce
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese

Separate the stems from the leaves of the Swiss chard. Finely chop the stem; you'll need about 1/2 cup. Stack the leaves, slice into thin strips, then chop. Set aside.

Set the electric pressure cooker to the saute setting. When the pot is hot, pour in the olive oil

Add the Swiss chard stems, onion, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to the pot and saute for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften.

Add the Swiss chard leaves and garlic and saute for 2 more minutes.

Hit cancel. Add the pasta sauce and let the pot cool for 5 minutes.

Make 4 evenly-spaced indentions in the sauce mixture. Carefully crack an egg into a custard cup, then pour it into one of the indentions. (Note you can crack the eggs directly into the pot, but the whites will spread out more and the eggs won't look as nice.)

Close and lock the lid of the pressure cooker. Set the valve to sealing.

Select low pressure and set the timer for 0 minutes.

When the cooking is complete, hit Cancel and quick release the pressure.

Once the pin drops, unlock and remove the lid.

Sprinkle with parsley and parmesan, and serve immediately.

Substitution tip: If you don't have any Swiss chard, use 1/2 cup bell pepper to replace the stems and 2 cups kale or spinach to replace the leaves.

I received a review copy of the book at no cost to me.

There's a giveaway on Shelby's Facebook page for the book and more goodies! Good luck!

Quick Pickled Vegetables in your Instant Pot (or other electric pressure cooker)

In today's edition of What crazy thing is Donna cooking? we have some quick-pickled vegetables courtesy of a new cookbook that showed up at my door.

The book is called How To Instant Pot, so obviously it's taking advantage of that particular brand of cooker, but these recipes should work for pretty much any electric pressure cooker. There might be some differences in terms of what buttons the cooker might have, but that's also true among the Instant Pot cookers.

So, yeah, it's a cookbook specifically for electric pressure cookers.

The first thing I tried from this book was risotto. Which was kind of silly because I've made risotto a bazillion ways already, so there was nothing to be surprised about here. Risotto cooked in a pressure cooker is good, but it's not as good as other methods where stirring is involved.

So ... I decided to give the pickled vegetables a try. Pressure cooking makes sense to jump-start the pickling process. And it sure as heck was quick.

The recipe called for either carrots or cucumbers or both, but I didn't have any cucumbers and I didn't have enough carrots. So I started rummaging in the crisper and pulled out a cauliflower. I figured it would work, since cauliflower is about as dense as carrots, and it tastes good pickled.

The process worked, so I'm pretty sure I'll do this again, but I think I'll adjust the tartness. For eating as a snack, these were pretty tart (yeah, I'm weird - I eat pickles as a snack) so next time I'll try a ratio of 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water or even 1/4 vinegar to 3/4 water.

Also, this basic recipe could be tweaked a zillion ways, by adding some hot peppers or chili flakes, or by adding some garlic, turmeric, or even some herbs.

But that's the great thing about quick pickles. Since these aren't meant to be canned, you can mix and match flavors in a whole lot of different ways, and still get a good result. You know, to your taste.

I'm actually thinking I might use this technique to make a spicy pickled cauliflower recipe that I'm quite fond of.

Quick Pickled Vegetables
Adapted from How to Instant Pot by Daniel Shumski
Makes about 1 quart

1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt or pickling salt
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 pound carrots, peeled, trimmed, and cut into 2-inch pieces (I cut mine a little smaller) or a combination of vegetables you like

Place the vinegar, water, sugar, peppercorns, and mustard seeds in the inner pot of the pressure cooker and stir until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Add the vegetables and stir.

Put the lid on the pot and lock it. Set the vent to closed. Set the pressure to high, and set the timer for 1 minute. Yup, that's it. Just one minute.

When the cooking is done (a bit more than a minute, since it takes time to get to pressure), turn the vent knob to release the steam and when the pressure has been released, remove the lid. Transfer the vegetables and liquid to whatever container you're going to use. Mine fit well into a 1-quart canning jar.

Allow the vegetables to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled. The flavor will continue to develop over the next few days, but you can use these as soon as they're cool.

I received this cookbook from the publisher at no cost to me.

Wacky Cupcakes #OXOgoodcookies

The Cookies for Kids' Cancer campaign sponsored by OXO is one of my favorite feel-good things every year. Bloggers who participate get a few free products from OXO, but the money goes to charity. How awesome is that?

Maybe you've heard of Wacky Cake. I have a vague memory of bringing home a copy of the recipe and making it at home, which must have been a huge event since my mom never baked anything.

The major selling point that must have convinced my mom to let me make the cake was that it didn't require eggs, a mixing bowl, or a blender. The recipe was mixed by hand and baked in the same pan.

The problem with that recipe was that it was hard to mix the ingredients evenly in a cake pan, without scraping off the butter or shortening that was greasing the pan.

I've seen a lot of wacky cake recipes since then, but I hadn't given it much thought until I ran into yet another recipe in a community cookbook. And then I thought ... hmmm ... I wonder if this would work as cupcakes.

While I was thinking, I also decided to cut the recipe in half, and I made a few other little adjustments as well. Because, what the heck. Might as well have some fun, right?

Wacky cake is normally left unfrosted - maybe just dusted with powdered sugar. But I decided the cupcakes needed frosting, so I made a simple chocolate ganache and used the cool decorating tool that OXO provided to swirl the ganache on top of the cupcakes.

So pretty! So easy! Not messy!

They also sent me a really nice 12-cup muffin pan - looks pretty with a gold-colored finish, right? And they sent silicone baking cups as well. The muffin cups are pure genius, since they have little "ears" on two sides that makes it really easy to get the cupcakes out of the pan.

Wacky Cupcakes
Adapted from Favorite Recipes from Quilters by Louise Stoltzfus

See the "ears" on the muffin cups? Really handy!

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 ounces vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup cold water

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place cupcake liners in 12 wells of a muffin pan.

Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer at high speed until well blended, about two or three minutes.

Divide the batter evenly between the cups - they should be about 3/4 full.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 18-20 minutes, or until the top of the cupcakes spring back when touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove the pan from the oven and remove transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting. Here's where those little ears on the cupcake cups really came in handy!

When the cupcakes are fully cooled, frost as desired. Or, if you want to stay true to the original wacky recipe, just dust them with a little powdered sugar.

About the frosting:

For my frosting, I used a basic ganache with 6 ounces of cream, heated to boiling, poured over 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate, broken into chunks.

At this point, you have a ganache that you can pour onto a cake to make a smooth layer of chocolate. But that's not what I wanted.

After the mixture was completely smooth and starting to cool off a bit, I started beating it with my hand mixer until it was thick and fluffy and the color had lightened a bit.

I piped the frosting on the cupcakes. YUM.

NOTE: after seeing someone else post a vegan chocolate dessert recipe, I realized that the cake part of this recipe is vegan. Not that it's trying to be, it just is. It was thought to have been first developed during WWII, when dairy and eggs were rationed. That's why it uses oil. And it works really, really well.

The frosting I made included dairy, so that's not vegan, but that's easy to swap for something else, like a faux-buttercream made with either vegetable oil or a non-dairy butter substitute. Or ganache made using a non-dairy cream (although I've never tried that). Or whatever vegan frosting or icing you like.

OXO sent along some info about the products they sent. Here's what they had to say:

Muffin Pan
The Non-Stick Pro Muffin Pan features a unique micro-textured pattern that ensures even baking and adds structural rigidity. It's made with a ceramic-reinforced, two-layer, commercial-grade coating that provides ultimate non-stick release and is scratch-, stain-, corrosion- and abrasion-resistant.

Baking Cups
https://www.oxo.com/products/cooking-baking/baking-tools/silicone-baking-cups-12-pack
The BPA-free Baking Cups have handy tabs to help remove them from muffin tins without making a thumbprint, and the inside of each Cup is smooth and non-stick to release your treat easily. With a fill line, your cupcakes will be consistent every time.

Baker's Decorating Tool
Our easy-to-use, easy-to-fill Tool is designed to give you complete control while decorating. The unique trigger provides a smooth stream of icing for clean lines, and the comfortable handles ensure a steady grip and protect icing from warm hands.

English Pea Salad with Cream Dressing

When I got the book Victuals by Ronni Lundy to review, I was just a little skeptical. I wasn't sure what to expect.

The book is subtitle "An Appalachian journey, with recipes," and that's pretty accurate. There are a lot of stories about the area and the people, and there are also a bunch of recipes.

Truthfully, I was more curious about the recipes. I had no idea whether Appalachian recipes would be familiar or not.

Turns out, they were mostly familiar, but some had a twist. The fried chicken was pretty similar to other recipes I'd made. Salmon cakes were pretty familiar, but I'd never made them with dill pickle in them. I might give that a try because it sounds good to me. The pickled bologna with peppers was just sort of strange.

The pork and kraut with cider gravy sounds like something my mom would have made, except that she made her pork steaks completely differently. I'm going to try the one in the book because it sounds pretty darned good.

Then I saw the recipe for a salad made with peas that had a cream dressing. Actual cream. Thickened with a little cider vinegar. That really fascinated me. I knew I had to try it. Originally, this was a spring/summer sort of dish because it used fresh peas, so the green onions and radishes that went with it made sense.

But the author said it's been adapted so frozen peas work, too. Which is great because I love frozen peas and I'm not overly fond of shelling peas, even when they are in season.

The one little problem I had with the recipe was the radishes. They're not particularly available right now in grocery stores. Or at least the ones I shopped at.

I decided I still wanted to make the recipe, even though radishes were rate. I wanted something with a little crunch, so I used some baby zucchini. It didn't add the bright pop of color, but it still looked nice.

And then I went to the winter farmer's market - a last chance for the local farmers to sell their squash and potatoes and canned good - and I found one booth that had radishes. So I added those to the salad as well, the day after I made the original.

I have to say that the radishes really were pretty, and the bit of sharpness they added was nice. The zucchini was good, but the radishes are definitely better.

English Pea Sans with Cream Dressing
Adapted from Victuals by Ronni Lundy

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon honey
Salt
2 cups fresh or frozen peas
1/2 cup thinly sliced small radishes (I used one very small zucchini)
1/4 cup minced green onions
Freshly ground black pepper

About an hour before you want to make the salad, combine the cream, vinegar honey, and a pinch of salt in a small jar. Shake for about minute to combine, then let it sit at room temperature for about an hour. The dressing will get thicker as it sits.

Meanwhile blanch and drain the peas. Pat them dry, or just let them sit in a strainer to get rid of the water.

Combine the peas, radishes (or in my case, the zucchini) in a bowl. Add the dressing and pepper, to taste, and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt, if desired. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Simply Tomato Soup

I love soup, and one of my favorite soups is tomato. Sometimes I like it with rice, sometimes I like it with noodles, and sometimes I even add carrots. I love tomato soup so much that I even like the stuff that comes in the red and white cans. And it makes a nice companion for a grilled cheese sandwich.

When I found a tomato soup recipe in a book called The Quick Six Fix, I had to give it a try. I mean, it's tomato soup. It would have been crazy for me not to give it a try.

The concept of the book is that there are pantry ingredients that you should have on hand at all times, and you should need no more than six additional items to make any recipe. Also, you should be able to do the prep work in six minutes or less, and the cleanup should also take six minutes or less.

Most of the recipes also cook quickly - 30 minutes or less. Some take longer, but it's generally hands-off cooking. And ... there are cleanup tips within the recipes. Like, if you've just emptied a pot in the middle of a recipe, it might tell you that you ought to soak the pot now for easier cleaning when you're all done.

As far as on-hand ingredients, most of us have things that we keep around at all times because they're the ones we know we like enough to keep them in the pantry or fridge.

What you keep in stock is probably different from what I have on hand, but there are probably some things that most of us have. The basics of salt, pepper and olive oil (or another cooking oil) are pretty obvious, but this book has a more comprehensive list of "must have" and "nice to have" items.

I agreed with most of it, except perhaps the coconut milk (I don't like coconut) and the heavy cream. I don't use heavy cream often enough for it to be something that's always on hand. I buy it when I need it for a recipe, then I find something else to do with the rest.

On the other hand, my list of must-have items is probably longer than what's in the book. I have more spices, for sure, and several types of cheese. And tortillas. And bread flour, whole wheat flour, semolina flour, dry yeast ... but that's just me.

If someone was starting a new kitchen, they could take his list to the store and have a good selection of food to work with. Of course, eliminating things that they don't like. If someone doesn't like olives, there's no reason to buy them right?

So anyway, when you get to recipes in the book, the non-standard items are in bold print, so if you actually follow the concept, you'll know right away what you need to buy. In this recipe, there were only two non-standard items: the baguette and the basil leaves.

I decided not to make the baguette toast, and I substituted a few other things. I always have tomato products on hand, so I used what I had and didn't go looking for San Marzanos. I knew it would be an annoying search to find exactly the tomatoes listed in the recipe. I know for sure that I can find whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, but I've never seen diced ones at the stores I go to. I'll look for them next time I'm raiding the tomato aisle, though. But I always have at least a few cans of other types of diced tomatoes.

And then I used some frozen basil that I had, rather than going out to the store for fresh. While fresh basil is great, this was getting stirred into a hot soup, so I didn't think it would make that much different. So I made this without needing to go shopping at all.

I'd suggest that if you make this, you add the chili flakes, salt, and pepper to taste. Particularly the chili flakes. Those can be fairly mild or they can be raging hot. So add as much as you like, keeping in mind that this is soup and not salsa. When it comes to salt, I usually start with about half of what a recipe suggests and I add more until it tastes right to me. Sometimes I don't need as much as a recipe suggests, and sometimes I need more.

A nice garnish for this soup is a little dollop of Greek yogurt. Or with crackers and some blue cheese, if you don't feel like making parmesan toast. Just my suggestion.

Simply Tomato Soup
Adapted from The Quick Six Fix by Stuart O'Keeffe

For the soup:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried chili flakes, or to taste
2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
2 28-ounce cans diced San Marzano tomatoes
2 cups vegetable stock (I used chicken stock)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 basil leaves, torn

For the toast:
3/4 cup shaved parmesan
14-inch length of baguette. sliced diagonally into 1-inch slices

Heat the oil over medium heat in a pot large enough to hold all the soup ingredients. dd the onion, garlic, chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Cook for until the onions have softened, about 5-7 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, vegetable stock and sugar. Simmer on medium for 10 minutes, then turn the heat off.

A couple notes here. First, I used chicken stock, because that's what I had. Also, it comes in 1-quart (4 cup) boxes. I measured out 2 cups to set aside, but my tomatoes were really thick, so I ended up using the whole 4 cups. And last, it took a while for this to come up to a simmer. So be prepared for that. Oh, and really last, you can let it simmer longer if you like.

Sprinkle the parmesan on the bread and toast under the broiler until the cheese has melted. Watch carefully. It goes from nothing to char pretty quickly. Timing depends on how close your oven rack is to your broiler.

Puree the soup, along with the butter. You can use a stick blender, or pour the soup into a blender.

Return the soup to the pot (if you used a blender) stir in the basil, and serve warm with the toast.

I received this book from the publisher at no cost to me.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Mixed Grains

This soup is sooo good. And so easy, particularly if you're starting from leftover, like when you buy that giant cauliflower from the farmer's market and you have a lot left.

Of course, you can steam or roast the cauliflower just for this soup.

But ... here's the other thing. You could make this with a different vegetable, or even a mix of vegetables, as long as you like them together. Which means this is great whenever you have leftovers. I'm all about finding good uses for leftovers.

The rice mix I used here was actually a new mixed grains medly from Minute Rice - they sent me samples and I've been having some fun with it. It has several types of rice along with quinoa, and is meant to be cooked as a side dish, either on the stove or in the microwave, but I figured it would be fine in this soup. And it cooks fast, which means that this soup was ready to eat really quickly.

Creamy Cauliflower Rice Soup

3-4 cups cooked cauliflower
1 quart vegetable or chicken stock
1/4 cup instant mashed potatoes, for thickening (if needed)
1 packet (about 3/4 cup uncooked) Minute Rice Multi-Grain Medly
Salt and pepper, to taste

Combine the cauliflower and chicken stick in a blender and puree until smooth, then transfer to a saucepan. You could also but both in a saucepan and use a stick blender to puree it.

Heat on medium heat. Add the minute rice, stir to combine, and cook until the rice is cooked through. If you prefer a thicker soup, add the instant potatoes and cook for a few more minutes.

Taste, and add salt and pepper to taste. I happen to like creamy soups with a generous amount of pepper.

If you like, garnish with some chopped herbs, or a complimentary vegetable, shredded or diced. I happened to have some brussels sprouts, so I used that.

I received samples of the Minute Rice Multi-Grain Medly at no cost to me. I wasn't required to use it in a recipe, but it worked really well here. And yes, I'd buy it again. It's handy to have on hand. And I'm kind of a fiend for rice.

Green Beans with Sesame Dressing (Ingen No Goma Ae)

When I got a copy of Masuharu Morimoto's new cookbook, Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking, I wondered what I had gotten myself into.

Japanese ingredients aren't exactly common around here. So I wondered if I'd be able to make a lot of recipes from the book without substituting the heck out of them. I have to say that I was pretty pleased that the majority of the recipes were doable with things I could find at my local grocer.

And for the most part, the unusual items were of the dried, seaweedy variety that I could order from Amazon, if need be. There were a few that I probably won't be able to find easily, like vacuum-packed pre-cooked lotus root or some specific types of vegetables.

But that's okay. It's unlikely that I'd ever cook every recipe from any cookbook. And I'm pretty good at substituting, if need be.

I had a couple recipes bookmarked. One was a chicken meatball recipe with teriyaki. Another was a Japanese-style hamburger. But then I decided to make a side dish instead, and settled on a green bean recipe. I had absolutely everything I needed, so that was a plus.

Well, I have to be honest. I used frozen green beans. But I had everything else I needed.

This is intended as a cold salad, so it's a great prepare-ahead dish. The instructions say that it's good for up to a day, but I have no problem letting dressed vegetables sit in the fridge for longer. And while this is supposed to be a Japanese dish, it would work perfectly well as a side for fried chicken, meatloaf, or any typical American meal.

It's also nice added to a green salad.

Ingen No Goma Ae (Green Beans with Sesame Dressing)
Adapted from Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking by Masaharu Morimoto

3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
About 1 tablespoon salt (for cooking the beans)
2 cups trimmed, halved green beans (I used "tiny" frozen beans)
1 tablespoon Japanese soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Put the sesame seeds in a small skillet over medium heat and toast, stirring or tossing often, until they're a few shades darker. Transfer to a bowl so they stop cooking, then pound them in a mortar or blitz in a spice grinder until you have a slightly coarse powder. Note: I liked the look of the photo that had some whole seeds, so I used the mortar and pestle so I would have some small bits and some whole seeds.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add the salt. Cook the beans until they're fully cooked but still with a little crunch, about 3 minutes (or cook to your liking - seriously, they're your beans!)

Have a bowl of ice water or super-cold water standing by. When the beans are done cooking add them to the bowl of cold water. When the beans are cool, remove them from the water and pat dry. Note: if you need to, drain the water and add more cold water to get the beans chilled.

Combine the soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and sesame seeds in a medium mixing bowl. Add the beans and stir to combine.

Mound the beans on a plate and serve.

I received the book from the publisher at no cost to me.

Asparagus and Leek Soup with Poached Egg

I love soup, particularly when the cooler weather comes calling. From early fall though late spring, it seems like I've always got some kind of soup simmering on the stove or tucked away in the refrigerator for a quick meal.

Much of the time, soup is a spur-of-the moment creation, based on what leftovers are available and what vegetables aren't reserved for other uses.

It's not that often that I make deliberate soup, where I start with a recipe and end up with exactly what I had planned. Nope. Most soups here are pretty haphazard.

Which is why I was interested in the book Soup Swap by Kathy Gunst. With book in hand, I could shop for ingredients and make purposeful soups.

The one I chose for the online book tour I'm participating in was an asparagus and leek soup. It intrigued me. I love potato leek soup, and I adore asparagus. It seemed like the perfect transitional soup, with asparagus still very available while the weather was just starting to turn cooler.

This recipe uses asparagus in three different ways. And then, to add some richness, it's served with a poached egg on top.

I'll admit that I didn't make this recipe exactly as written. I didn't weigh the asparagus, for example. And I used fried egg rather than the poached egg that was called for. I think fried eggs are easier, and it was my dinner, so I was fine with that.

This was a lovely light soup that is also rich because of the addition of the egg. Quite tasty. And although the instructions seem long, it's pretty simple. Now that I've made it once, I could make it again with barely a glance at the instructions. Or just wing it.

Asparagus and Leek Soup with Poached Egg
Adapted from Soup Swap by Kathy Gunst

2 1/2 pounds asparagus (I had 2 bunches, unweighed)
1 large leek
7 cups vegetable stock
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 scallions, trimmed, white and greed sections very thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest (I used lemon juice)
1 egg per serving

Cut the tips off the asparagus and set aside. Snap the stalks where they naturally break, or cut off the tough ends. Put the tough ends in a saucepan and set the tender part aside.

Cut off the tough green part of the leek and chop it roughly. Rinse off any dirt or grit. Put the dark green parts of the leek in the saucepan with the tough asparagus ends. Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes.

Halve the tender remaining leek lengthwise - this should be just the tender pale green section and the white. Rinse it under cold water to get rid of any dirt or grit. Slice the leek crosswise into thin pieces.

Cut the middle part of the asparagus into pieces about an inch long.

Put 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add the tender leek slices and the chives along with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Add the asparagus pieces (those middle parts you cut; not the tips) and cook for another 5 minutes. Turn the heat to high, add the wine, and bring to a boil.

Strain the stock from the saucepan into the stockpot. Discard the tough leek pieces and asparagus ends and bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low. Cover the pot and cook for 30 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes before blending it in batches in a blender. You could also use a stick blender or food processor. Blend until you have a smooth puree, then return the soup to the pot.

Heat the remaining 1/2 tablespoon (1 1/2 teaspoons) of olive oil in a skillet. Add the scallions and cook for 4 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Add the asparagus tips and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, or until the asparagus tips are almost tender.

Poach or fry one egg per serving of soup.

Ladle the soup into bowls, top with the egg, and garnish with some of the asparagus tips and scallions. Serve hot.

As part of the book tour, I received a copy of the book, a Chef's Choice Pronto Pro Diamond Hone knife sharpener, a Zeroll ladle, and a Zeroll slotted spoon.

Real Pickles

Not long ago, I reviewed a product called Kraut Source, and to do the review I made sauerkraut using the device. Later, they sent me a copy of the Kraut Source Recipe Book which includes 26 recipes for fermenting and for using the fermented foods.

Since I had fresh pickling cucumbers from the farmer's market, I decided to make pickles using one of the recipes in the book. These are the old-fashioned brined pickles that ferment naturally. No vinegar needed.

You can sometimes find this sort of pickle at delis in large jars, or sometimes they're available in jars at the grocery store - they're the ones you'll find refrigerated.

But they're pretty simple to make if you have some patience. It takes a week or more for the pickles to ferment, but you don't really need to do much during that time.

The good thing about the Kraut source and the book I got is that the recipes are for fermenting small batches, right in a canning jar. So you don't need to have a lot of space for fermenting or for storing the pickles later. You can make a batch, taste, and then adjust the flavors for the next batch.

If you decide you want to buy yourself a Kraut Source, the recipe book is a good, particularly if you've never worked with fermented foods before. If you don't get the book, you can still use the Kraut Source since there are recipes in the small booklet that comes with the device, and other recipes on the website. And of course, there are other fermenting recipe that you could use.

Oh, and if the pickles in that jar look dark, it's because it's a purple canning jar.

If you want to know more about the product, here's the review.

Real Pickles
Adapted from Kraut Source Recipe Book

2 1/2 cups filtered water
1-2 tablespoons sea salt
6-8 pickling cucumbers (to fit jar)
2 sprigs fresh dill (I used dried)
1 tablespoon yellow or brown mustard seeds (I used brown)
1/4 onion, thinly sliced (I skipped this; I'm not sure why)
5-6 cloves garlic, peeled (I used three)
1 rounded teaspoon green tea leaves (I used one teabag of green tea)

Bring the water to a boil, add the salt, and let it cool completely.

Put the dill, mustard seeds, onion, garlic, and tea leaves into a clean 1-quart jar. Trim 1/4 inch off the blossom end of the cucumbers and pack them into the jar. It's fine to cut pickles in half to get them to fit in the jar. I only managed to get five pickles into the jar - four standing upright and the fifth one cut in half to fit on top.

Pour the cooled brine into the jar until the pickles are covered by about an inch of liquid.

Place the Kraut Source on the jar. Put the cap on and add water to the moat.

Allow the pickles to ferment out of direct sunlight for 7-10 days, or until the pickles reach your desired taste. Remove the Kraut Source and place a standard lid on the jar for storage. (I like the plastic lids.) Refrigerate the jar.

The Kraut Source book had two recipes for using the brine - a pickle-brined chicken recipe, and a cultured mayonnaise. I haven't tried either one yet, but the pickled-brined chicken sounds like it would be pretty awesome.

Watermelon Gazpacho

Spouts, one of the food chains in this area, has started a monthly blogger get-together, and the second one I attended was at a cooking school called Cook Street School of Culinary Arts. And I've got their Watermelon Gazpacho recipe for you.

This is a view of where we had our class.

The theme was pizza. 

Pizzas are baking!

Here's another shot of the pizza oven. Isn't it great?

Needless to say, I rocked it with the dough-making, kneading, and shaping. Maybe I showed off a little bit. Diego, the sole Sprouts representative at the event, seemed like he had a lot of fun even though his pizza wasn't exactly round. He was a good sport!

We also stretched mozzarella, which was fun. They suggested that you can buy mozzarella curd, but you can also make your own - I've actually done it, and it's fun. (Why haven't I blogged about it? I have no idea!) To make it easier, you can buy a kit for making the cheese from scratch. Or actually from milk. But you knew what I meant, right?

They gave us a bunch of recipes to take home, for pizza, sauce, green goddess dressing, and a basil pesto, but the one that really intrigued me was the watermelon gazpacho. Which was one of the few things we didn't have our hands on. It was served to us as a little starter as the people from the cooking school introduced themselves and told us about what we were going to be doing.

Here's my finished pizza. And yes, that's a glass of wine.

The thing I thought was most interesting about the watermelon gazpacho was that it really didn't taste like watermelon. The tomato flavor was much more pronounced. What the watermelon added was a freshness and lightness. It wasn't like drinking pureed tomatoes.

And then there was the dollop of cheese on top - a blend of creme fraiche and feta that I wanted to steal off of everyone else's glass. I didn't know what it was, but I have to say I was pleased it was so simple. I can imagine using it as a dip with the addition of some herbs or as a dressing on fresh tomatoes and cucumbers.

I usually don't publish other people's recipes here, but I liked this so much I wanted to save it to make later. The recipe makes quite a bit, but it should be easy enough to cut this in half or even make just 1/4 of it.

Watermelon Gazpacho
Courtesy of Cook Street School of Culinary Arts

5 cups watermelon, small dice
4 tomatoes, cored, small dice
1 English cucumber, small dice
1/2 cup red onion, small dice
2 Fresno chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, and brunoised (a really small dice)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and finely ground
2 ounces feta
1/2 cup creme fraiche
Salt, to taste

Puree half of each of the watermelon, tomato, cucumber, onion, and chile with the vinegar, oil, and cumin in a blender until smooth. Taste and adjust the salt and vinegar, as desired. If it's too thick, add more cucumber or tomato.

Fold in the remaining watermelon and vegetables.

Puree the feta and creme fraiche.

Serve the gazpacho with a small dollop of the feta mix.

Thanks to Sprouts and Cook Street School of Culinary Arts for sponsoring and hosting the event. Some photos are courtesy of Sprouts; photos with captions are mine.

Cubano Roasted Vegetables

Let's start off with this: I love Cuban food.

Cuban food isn't anything like Mexican food or like Jamaican food or like ... well, it's not like a lot of foods you might think it's like. Cuban food doesn't use hot peppers, but you will find plenty of non-hot spices, along with citrus and garlic. It's really flavorful, but there's no burn. Don't look for chiles.

As much as I do love spicy food, I also love non-spicy food.

So, when I got a copy of Chef Ronaldo's Sabores de Cuba, I figured it would be a good book for me. I didn't even notice that it was a book put out by the American Diabetes Association. But that's fine, too. I have a few of their books, and the recipes are good. There's not a lot of sugar, obviously, but when it comes to Cuban food, I'm mostly interested in the savory foods than the sweet ones.

I bookmarked a couple of recipes, and had it narrowed it down to just a few. One was black beans and rice. I'm still planning on making that. But meantime, I decided to make a vegetable recipe. I chose Cubano roasted broccoli florets, but used cauliflower instead. because I love cauliflower and I happened to have one waiting to be used. It needed to cook longer than the recipe stated, but I think that's because cauliflower is more dense than broccoli. Or maybe I just wanted it more cooked.

I think this would also be really good with Brussels sprouts.

This is the sort of recipe where a little more or less of the vegetables (or a lot more or less) isn't really going to make a lot of difference. Just add more spice, if you need it, and it's all good.

Cubano Roasted Broccoli (or Cauliflower) Florets
Adapted from Chef Ronaldo's Sabores de Cuba

3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced (I used black garlic)
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon lime juice (I added more; lemon would also be good, but try the lime!)
1/8 teaspoon cracked black pepper (I didn't measure)
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion (I used a whole onion and didn't measure)
2 teaspoons avocado oil (I used olive oil)
16 ounce broccoli florets (I used 1 small head of cauliflower. I didn't weigh it.)
(I also added salt)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil for easier cleanup.

In a medium bowl, combine the garlic, cumin, lime juice, pepper, and onion. stir or toss to combine. Add the oil and broccoli (or cauliflower) and toss again to combine.

Place the cauliflower (or broccoli) on the prepared baking sheet. (Sprinkle with salt, if desired. The book didn't suggest adding any, but I think it was needed.) Bake until done to your liking. The time it takes depends on how done you like your vegetables. The book suggests 25 minutes for broccoli. I cooked the cauliflower for 1 hour because I wanted some browning.

After tasting the cauliflower, it seemed that the lime flavor was totally gone, so I drizzled a little more lime juice on after it came out of the oven, and gave it another little toss.

Serve warm. This is also good room temperature or cold in a salad.